Yeah, except you get a 1366x768 screen and a lack of apps. Plus you have to wait three months for it. Plus the touch cover doesn't have an extra battery. Plus how are you going to use the kickstand+touch cover on your lap?

Give it up, the Surface is a crap product, especially Surface Pro. A tablet is neither a PC nor a laptop, and Microsoft doesn't seem to understand that.Reply

You may the way they understood that the SAME Windows could work just as well on a tablet and a PC (dating all the way back to 1987 and the Go tablet business)?You mean the same way they understood that the same Windows UI could work on a phone, through all the different naming iterations of WIndows CE/Windows Mobile?

I think let's believe it when we see it. Right now what I see is that the fraction of people who LIKE Windows 8 as a PC OS is pretty damn small, which suggests a fundamental flaw in your theory.Reply

A software developer just paid me $40 to downgrade their Microsoft BUILD conference slate from Win8 DP (developer's preview) to Windows 7. This is the prototype for the Samsung Series 7 Slate, released to encourage Win8 developers. Not a good sign.

They encountered driver issues (will be fixed by Win8 release) and found the workflow very unpleasant (which will not!)

I played with 8 for a while first. Ugly, ugly operating system. The desktop feels gimped, because the start button returns you to Metro. I don't care about the missing start menu, but Metro isn't useful enough by itself, forcing me to the Desktop for real work - and several operations on the Desktop take you back to Metro :-(

This might be the case some day, but WindowsRT won't be a laptop any more or less than the Transformer, thanks to internals being even weaker than this tablet shown here and its limitation to Metro (and Office Home version).

Only Windows 8 Pro will be really trying to bridge the gap, and then you get the usual Ultrabook issues (fan noise, heat, shorter run time, weight). So while I would love a real tablet-laptop hybrid, I'm afraid it won't be before we see Broadwell released that this dream comes true. The best are compromises (either like the Transformer here at tablet with a keyboard attachment or like the Windows 8 Pro thin a Ultrabook with a touchscreen).Reply

And you dont seem to understand anything. Surface already looks vastly higher quality than this, and already has FAR more interest than any Android tablet will get. Many people dont want gimmicks, they want a real PC the size of a tablet thats actually useful.

"Plus how are you going to use the kickstand+touch cover on your lap?"

And what kind of stupid question is that?? You simply dont. But it's there when you need it, for things like actual work/typing.

When Surface is released and sells far more than any Android tablet i cant wait to laugh at people like you.Reply

You know 3DoubleD... you have some issues. We get it, you don't like or need mobile devices.

I rarely use my notebook... but I do use it. It works in cars, hotels. its a portable computer. Nothing more. Go out of town, need to do articles, print reports, etc... notebook is easier to carry than a 25lb box!

I use my iPad more than my ThinkPad... I use it on the can, use on the sofa, use on the train... I can prop it or hold it in my hand... it gets about 8 hours of use... something my notebook CAN'T do.

As someone who owns and uses an ASUS Transformer Prime daily (both with and without the dock), I can certainly attest to the fact that I DO like and NEED mobile devices.

Having used a tablet both alone and with a real docking keyboard I can truely say that as a productivity device, the Surface tablet is a pure gimmick unless you wrapped some bulky case around it so that you could use it on your lap. Go ahead and sit next to me on a bus/train and we'll type a long document out, edit a spreadsheet, even just browse the web while chatting with friends... I'll get twice as much done as you and I won't want to pull my hair out. If that wasn't enough, I'll also almost have twice as much battery life as you.

Yes, the softcover keyboad looks really innovative... but that doesn't make it a great idea! ASUS nailed it with the Transformer idea. If only they would ramp production up and increase availability and marketing, it's a great device.Reply

For media consumption they are about the same, or ipad is maybe better in that becuase of tons of apps. But if want to do real work, Surface with Windows RT comes with Office so it will be more useful than a dumb ipad.

I don't think even any Android tablet will be any better because a lot of the interface is still sluggish. I have a Exynos dual core equipped Galaxy Note with latest ICS and I can feel the Wacom pen is lagging and unnatural when writing. Papyrus is a app that I use since it's much lighter than Snote, but I'm still not satisfied. Even with a quad core, I feel that Android has something just not right that makes it feel sluggish on everything even though it's not suppose to be.

I'm waiting for the Surface with Windows 8 Pro. I'm a long time tablet PC user, and I know why I need it. Yes, this can replace a laptop/Ultrabook any day. At least that how I felt with having Samsung Series 7 Slate ($1300) for 5 months. If it didn't have build quality issues, I would have kept it. I'm hoping Surface has much better build quality like they mention in the video.Reply

define surface. There are two types. Type one is running Win 8 on Intel hardware, this will be twice as expensive as the TF700 and will lack finger friendly apps. You can buy such a tablet right now already. If those tablets don't have a pen, there's absolutely no reason to take one over a more powerful Ultrabook.

Type two is running Win RT on Qualcomm processors, incompatible with anything available right now. It not only lacks tablet apps the first year because it's a totally new platform, it also lacks powerful software you're used from Windows 7. Its hardware will be worse than iPad/Android tablets, its app selection non-existent at the beginning, its features a joke compared to Android.Reply

The development tools for windows 8 makes it very easy to make apps for x86 and ARM with the click of a button. Phone, tablet or desktop, all scaled correctly. There's a video out there where they demonstrate the tools. Also shows how windows 8 works as a tablet. If I hadn't watched that I might agree with you but after seeing that I feel windows 8 tablets will wipe the floor with android and ios. I'll see if I can dig up a link.Reply

With Android you write the app once, it works on phone, tablet, laptop, it works on x86 and ARM, even on Windows and Blackberrys, you don't have to recompile it either. If you digg deeper it will get more complicated, because then you have to code for two/three different platform two/three different UI, that's independet of the OS you use, this depends on the fact that a tablet has a large display compared to a smartphone. The same happens as soon as you use native code. If you write the app in Java only, no issues with Android. If you write with WinRT library, no issues either. But sometimes you need native code, then it's not that easy any longer, on both platforms.

The biggest issue Win RT has, is, that it doesn't have apps in the beginning. And apps written with Win RT won't run on Win 7 machines, not even on WP7 devices. So no apps will be written before the release, because no user can use it.The majority of people will also only upgrade to Win 8 with a new computer. I don't expect to see any large company to upgrade at all, because Win 8 doesn't offer them significant advantages compared to Win 7, not worth the trouble. So the userbase of WinRT compatible computers will be tiny.Win 8 tablets will remain as expensive as Win 7 slates currently are and most likely more expensive than ultrabooks. So they aren't that attractive to buy. Win RT tablets will be similar priced to the iPad, but the lack of available apps, the lack of features in Win RT will slow down the sell rate.

So it can be successful, but it won't wipe the floor. Market share will slowly but steadily climb upwards, if, and only if, Android doesn't invade the Ultrabook/Desktop market, which is not that unlikely if you consider how many people and different companies develop apps for it and different hardware. Because Android is open source, it will also be the platform which gets the latest tech first, which is a big advantage.Reply

Apple did it right... they started with a music player... then they attached a PHONE to it... so people can listen to their music.

(The MP3 market has been killed by todays phones)

Then they released the iPad, which can use many or all apps made from the iPhone (or with adjustments).

Here, MS has NO MP3, no Phone market share... The people who buy a NEW Windows Phone today have NO OS upgrades beyond 7.8. OUCH! (I just helped a guy buy a Win7 phone - the price is right and he needed it now).

So todays WP7/Wiin7 software WILL not work on Win8RT tablets... there are very few Win8RT/MetroX86 apps out... yes it will grow.

But to a customer? Why pay the same or more for a sloppy platform that has less apps, LOWER resolution and slower CPU?

The stats on this NEW ASUS (which is quite nice) is still SLOWER than an iPad3. Less GPU, less CPU, less screen resolution. WOW!

I see consumers getting confused about which WIn8 tablet will allow what.

"Okay, if I buy the $500 RT tablet... I can't run everything? What does RT mean? Retard? Return Tablet? So is this a bait and switch in that I have to buy the $1000 version to run everything? But wait, it runs warmer, heavier and has 1/3rd the battery life? Why am I buying the $1000 version for? And none of them have a screen that compared to the iPad3?"Reply

You mean a tablet which doesn't yet exist (because there are no prototypes except the two (three if you count the crashing one) shown on stage, everything else were non-functioning dummy devices as Paul Thurrot confirmed) looks better than the one you can buy next month?Reply

I'm love the idea of the Surface Pro. I get the tablet form factor I have now with my Transformer for entertainment / media consumption / web surfing on the couch, travel, the ability to experience the full web just like I can from my desktop, with full access to Hulu.com, comedycentral.com, etc, (where I don't get told that I can't view their web content because I'm using a web device they don't like), and the ability to install programs I own (Lightroom and such) and my work's VPN client so I can clip a keyboard to the tablet and login to work to take care of something from home.

I like my transformer, but the prospect of a real desktop OS in this form factor is a huge step forward. The only thing that would get me to consider upgrading to another Android tablet would be a move to a full desktop OS so I'm not limited by browser user agents or device classifications by content providers.Reply

No apps on day one, but you can bet your ass that will change rather rapidly, I guarantee that w8 apps will obliterate android apps in complexity and scope.

Don't forget you can use all x86 apps from windows 7 on the pro, and the rt may well have a lower res screen...bit other will consume less power..and have the ability to play more complex games on that screen.

The added battery is a nice feature for the prime, however it adds weight and android is a smartphone os on a tablet....windows 8 is going to be so much more than that.Reply

I'm actually quite interested in the surface pro. I want something that I can pretty easily carry around, since I don't like carrying heavy things. I also really want good pen input, since I would take notes on it, and as an EE student, a lot wouldn't be words, so pen input needs to be good. Finally, I love the fact that if I have any apps on it that just don't work with metro, I can always drop back to the desktop to use it, just in case.Reply

Having come from an iPad to the TFP, I think Asus has a better looking, sleaker design than Apple. I know most people don't jump ship from ios to Android, but it's nice to see a product that kind of compete. However, like the ipad2/3 features, there's not quite enough to make me want to sell my TFP and upgrade. Keep it up Asus...PSUsing hdmi on my bigscreen tv is awesome.Reply

My job gave me an iPad 3. When I got sick of it locking up on pages and stuttering, and the verizon 4g being enabled destroying my wifi speed when I left it on, and I got sick of pptp vpn connections dropping every 20 minutes, and I got sick of scrolling making it freeze solid for a few seconds, and I got sick of games like blooms td 4 completely locking it up... I'm really wondering how much they pay sites like this one to claim it's a great device. The lack of true multitasking alone. It's so annoying when network applications get frozen in the background and useless iOS tries to unfreeze them.

I got the TF201. It's superior to the new ipad in every single way. Even facebook is better on it, and that's not supposed to happen. You can play temple run on both and watch the stuttering mess that is the ipad drop frames while the prime has no issues at all. And that's without talking about the stupidity of having no expansion slots, or the stupid 4:3 screen, or being so technically incompetent you have to exactly double your pixel count each time because you can't code scaling graphics into your design. Do you have to buy all new software for your computer when you buy a new monitor? You can't even download anything. All that and it's heavily and uglier also.

The iPad is a toy with a broken OS on it. The Transformer line are actual desktop replacements. You can't even compare the two. You might as well compare guitar hero to a les paul. Reply

It's not that big of a deal really. You can spot bad review sites with biased reviewers pretty easily. trustedreviews is the only decent review site anymore. They just didn't have any information on the new king of tablets yet.Reply

I had a similar experience. My wife got an iPad 2 for her class in school for a semester and she absolutely hated it when compared to my old Motorola Xoom (yes, the original one).

While iOS transition animations are always smooth, iPads are far from stable. On an Android tablet, while some of the UI transitions need work, you never get into a situation where the device freezes completely because the OS will force-close the app if it does. Apple wants to hide their imperfections from you, so iPad just takes a dump with no warning.

Another thing that's annoying about the iPad is that for all the hype about the well-designed apps, iOS applications are very inconsistent. You don't know who nice it is to have a consistent location of the back button until you don't have one.

I'm not saying that iPad sucks, far from it--it's a very nice device. All things considered, I can see that it could still be called the best tablet, though I prefer Android. On the desktop side, I actually prefer OSX for work, because it has a better command-line interface thanks to its BSD roots. I'm a programmer, so command line is more important for me. I'd probably prefer windows if I was doing graphics design for a living.

This religious fervor about how "magical" the iPad is does make you wonder about Apple fanatics. It's not unique to Apple fans, but Apple fanaticism does seem to have a more cult-like feel.

My point is--instead of trolling, try to make up your own damn mind.Reply

I lost my Ipad 3 last week, just ordered one last night. But this one looks promising. WIsh it came out sooner as I'm an android fan myself, just not the android hardware i've been purchasing (Shame on you Motorola!)Reply

I think the problem is I was trying to use it as a desktop replacement, and it's not. It's a toy. I can remember my girlfriend saying "why do you do that so much?" when I was flipping between tasks and I was explaining it was because I was trying to five things at once and she was like "It can do that?" and I had to say "No, actually it can't". I was trying to use a toy to get work done. It was my own fault really.Reply

So to make everything nice for developers, the customer gets stuck with an unnecessarily high resolution screen that makes web pages look like crap and lumps them with a thicker, heavier, power guzzling device that gets worse battery life than its predecessor.

My wife has an orignal iPad and I have an iPad 2. We have never experienced any of the problems that you describe. I freaking hate dishonest trolls, you guys are ridiculous.

If an app has an issue the app shuts down, in 5 years of using iOS I have never had iOS just dump on me! Apps quit and act up.

When someone refers to an iPad as a toy, that's my number one indicator that they have never had one or they just have no clue what they are doing. I work in IT and use my iPad for work to remotely manage servers (when I'm out of the office) and I get plenty of productive business done on it!Reply

I had iOS crash on my a couple of times (iPad 2). I don't hold it against it, it's just a tad less stable than my Samsung Galaxy S II on CM9, but it's perfectly useable in this regard, we're talking maybe 4 crashes in a year. Apps (even Apple Apps) crash regularly though. Not annoyingly often, but regularly. Not what I would describe as crash-happy. But also not the mythical "never crashes at all" some people like to claim online.Reply

You do know that Samsung makes the screen for the iPad 3 right lol. In fact they make 50 percent of the parts in the thing.

I own the iPad3. I own the TFP. The colors and brightness and contrast are better on the TFP. The iPad3 is useless outside, and in bright light. The TFP is already a much better tablet than the iPad3. The Infinity just improves on an already industry best design. If you owned both, you'd know it just holding them. Asus makes a much better tablet than apple.Reply

The colors aren’t. Neither are the ppi. Something that actually makes a real impression in most situations—unless for some reason your only usage of a tablet is in bright sunlight.

The TPI and iPad 3—as hardware, only—each have their strengths and weaknesses. To claim one is absolutely better at everything just sounds fanboi-ish. Or, you know, astroturfer-ish (which you happily accuse others of being above).Reply

I thought this product was Vaporware considering it was annouced around Jan...and still not released but Awesome screen all the same - Look at those Contrast / white / black level numbers, haven't seen a screen like that in years...and at 1920x1200.

When you look at the numbers, the significance of the screen has been glossed over in the article, - the only reason I can see for that, is perhaps that resolution sucks on Android, or apps don't scale well etc..

Lepton87 might have a point but the overall feel of the review is to wait for windows 8 tablets when perhaps the resolution will make more sense.Reply

Your being very unfair. 1920*1080 is a great resolution and a big step up. But its not 25*18. That really IS big deal, its more than most 30 inch monitors. Your trying to equate a good improvement to a complete shift. Way to be objective yourself. Reply

I own them both. I can hold them side by side. It's really hardly noticable at all until you get the tablets closer than one would use them, and once again I'm talking about the prime versus my 32gb verizon 4g iPad that work gave me. I'm happily at work now typing this on my prime because it has completely replaced my Dell laptop running windows 7. The iPad could not do this. The only reason they went with a resolution that high is they have NO CHOICE. iOS is crippled and has to use multiples of the 6 year old iphone display resolution and dimensions. That's why it has a fail 4:3 display like an old television rather than a proper 16:10 display. That's why you have to buy all new apps for it instead of the superior Android solution that mimics what your laptop or pc and mac already do. Just scale things properly. There's no such thing as a "tablet optimized" app. That's marketing. That's apple attempting to justify failure in their mobile OS design by turning it into a positive. You can tell how intelligent a tech review is by looking for terms like "tablet optimized" or "fragmented" or "retina". It means they lack the technical knowledge to understand that's just marketing meant to talk around shortcomings in their own poorly designed device. Reply

"That's why it has a fail 4:3 display like an old television rather than a proper 16:10 display."

Tablets are designed primarily as consumption devices, which is how most people use them. For such a device, I find the 4:3 aspect ratio to be superior in most respects. Internet Browsing, email, and ebooks all look much better to me on tablets with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Gaming is a wash as I don't have a preference. The only drawback is watching movies as the black bars are larger unless you zoom-in.

I have nothing against Android, I actually prefer the openness of Android, but I much prefer the paper sized 4:3 aspect ratio for handheld tablets.Reply

Before I owned the original TF Prime I was probably inclined to agree with you. However after 6 months of use, I can see Anand's point. Where iOS is polished in almost every possible way, Android is still rough around the edges. Browser performance on Android is excellent when it works, but it also hangs a lot. Engadget for example is a website that constantly brings my TFP's browser to its knees. And I can tell you that constantly force closing your browser is pretty annoying.

There is a huge potential for Android tablet, but Asus and Google need to polish the user experience if they really want to compete with Apple.Reply

I had problems browsing with the ipad, too. The difference is that on my TFP the browser rights itself rather than having to close it and open again. Multitasking is easier too, no double tapping anything. Sure ICS could be polished up a bit, but as far as capability its at least on par with IOS. IPad still has performance edge and battery, but thats getting smaller all the time.Reply

iOS is a lot less stable than ICS. You don't have to take my world for it. Crittercism did the research. Safari is the buggiest piece of sh*t I've used in my life on iOS, and it's a damn shame because it's one of the finest browsers I've used when on OSX. It's shame apple can't just get OSX working on the ipad. Then it would be worth it.Reply

I would say they are about the same for me. Maybe, maybe Android is a bit more stable, but I would attribute this to the fine gentlemen and -women working at CM9. Neither is annoying with the crashes, so I'd say they are both perfectly usable.Reply

I actually HATE Apple products myself. But Anand is anything but a fanboy... I know a fanboy when i see one. Engadget, TB, and other websites "tech websites" have lots of them.

Anyway. While I seriously hate admitting this. "Currently", the only tablet worth buying if the user is concerned about "user experience" and fluidity is in fact the iPad. I personally think the iPad 2,4 is the best deal out there; i could care less for higher "non-standard" resolutions.

But Anand threw a bomb at the end of his article here. The transformer line needs a much more fluid and "functional" OS. That being, Windows 8. I agree. Windows 8 ARM/x86 tablets are going to show us a whole new dimension in computing and fluidity. Be prepared to see most Anandtech authors being called Windows/Microsoft fanboys by the end of the year.Reply

The thing is that tablets for most people are appliances. The group that actually wants a PC in a tablet form factor is not that large. The group that couldn’t care less as long as they don’t have to spend time tinkering with the device is much, much larger.

Of course an argument can be made that iOS can be jailbroken (and Windows RT will probably be, too), and there certainly is a group of people out there who prefers an Apple device with the "openess" they expect from a PC.

And that’s all ok! Android is a perfect fit for the "tinkerers" and thanks to Apple setting expectations pretty high, they’ll get a great tablet/phone user experience to boot, as Android needs to stay competitive with iOS. It’s like the mythical "Linux on the Desktop", but with more apps. :oP

Windows 8/RT’s impact remains to be seen. Their approach certainly is novel and if Microsoft can manage to get enough developers on board, they might end up with a real alternative. I’m only afraid they will end up being too schizophrenic for that, trying to do it all and ending up doing nothing well enough for people to give a shit.Reply

Personally I haven't been able to use either for work. The TF + dock is almost usable, but it doesn't have enough of the apps I use (I don't want lame substitutes) and ultimately the tf+dock is almost a netbook... so I just use my much more powerful laptop. The ipad is not work worthy. And apple doesn't try to market it that way, so I'm ok with that. I love the ipad for what it is, instant-on, relax on the couch.

Surface may be suitable for light work, though I'm not sure how it will work in your lap, so the asus version will probably be better. But I suspect it'll take a good year for the apps to be available for ARM, so at launch I'd be looking at an x86 version... and it doesn't look like AMD or Intel has a tablet winner SOC for the fall. Ivy Bridge will do, but haswell would have been better. And an ultra low voltage trinity maybe?

I'm not certain that when the dust settles I'm going to want to work on a tablet with a keyboard anyways. I like the idea of one less device, but maybe it's a dream. I think phone,tablet,laptop,desktop,xbox/appletv, all play a somewhat different role and I'll probably keep buying all of them.

I like the concept of running windows 8 on everything, but I'm currently mixing android,apple,and lots of microsoft and I'm getting along just fine :-)Reply

" BUT what disadvantages do you get? On Android I have none, except of voiding my warranty."

I have my iPad 2 Jailbroken, and there are no disadvantages - at least none that I've ever come across. The advantage is being able to install RetinaPad, iFile, NES emulators with Wiimote support, and a few UI customization apps. Reply

My iPad 2 slowed down a lot when I jailbroke it and installed some jailbroken software. It was rather annoying and the reason I went back into Apple's golden cage. No such issue with rooted/custom-ROM Android, where you rather see a stability and speed increase, not a decrease.Reply

I love the form factor of the Transformer series but it needs RT. With Nvidia being the ARM partner for Microsoft at the moment we might see better battery life and performance out of RT then under Android. As always I'll be waiting patiently for the Anandtech review when the device is released.Reply

it's alright tablet but i'll wait for win8 surface. i own ep121 and it's still working great with i5 cpu. i might just upgrade the os on it to win8 when that comes out instead of buying a brand new 'surface' tablet. as for android, my samsung player 4 is sufficient. :)Reply

I love the newest iPad, but I cannot deny this product looks amazing. I may just have to own both an Android and iOS tablet! On a side note, the two aforementioned tablets both blow away Surface. Not impressed with it at all. Reply

2. The durability of these tablets concerns me. What kind of material covers the screen? My Adroid smartphone (Motorola Atrix) has Corning Gorilla Glass over it and after more than a year there's not a scratch on it. You would think tablet manufacturers would want to make them as durable as possible...this Gorilla Glass is really awesome stuff. Reply

Wow, I don't take Anand for an iPad fanboy in the least. Perhaps this article lacks the zeal of the iPad review, but that alone doesn't make someone a fanboy. I think he still presents balanced reviews of other devices, even if his preference is to the iPad.

Don't act like the display on the iPad isn't amazing. The results right in this article show that the new iPad display bests the TF Infinity display in color gamut and color accuracy, and other reviews of the TF Infinity (there's aren't many yet of course), say that display also goes to the crapper outdoors.

I have the new iPad as I was tired of waiting for the TF Infinity, but I am still anxiously awaiting the TF Infinity release as I would very much like to leave the walled garden land of no external storage, more costly devices that do less, 4:3 silliness, and no background updating of apps. But I won't do that if the browsing experience isn't improved in Android between Jelly Bean and the hardware of the Prime--especially not when the tablet app space on Android is awful (compared to iOS) so more time is spent on the browser.

Perhaps some of you with the TF Prime can weigh in, but my experience with the browser for scrolling and entering text in forms (like typing in forums) has been less than stellar on my XOOM, slightly improved with Chrome and Android 4.0, but still not as smooth and fluid as the iPad even with the TF Prime.

Everything about Android is better for me, but first and foremost I use the tablet to browse the web, play an occasional game, and waste time with social networking. It's not a business tool for me--that's what my laptop and/or desktop is for and I don't desire to have my tablet take it's place. Right now, the iPad works better for me at delivering a consistently smooth vehicle for media consumption but I really want the TF Infinity to take this title because I so want to come back to Android even with it's crappy tablet appspace.

A video review (or even text comparison) of the browser and text input experience on the TF Infinity versus the new iPad would MUCH APPRECIATED. *ahem* Anand are you listening? I will pay money for this since it saves me from having to BUY both and return/sell one!Reply

I am right there with you. I went ahead and got an iPad 3 because I was tired of waiting for this to release.

I would VERY much like to had expandable storage on a laptop, and a wider screen for watching the videos on said expandable storage. And I want widgets. I have a Nexus One and the widgets on it are wonderful.

That said, the iPad 3 is a GREAT device for stuff like internet browsing and especially reading. I'd be interested to see if the apps for reading like Kindle and Nook have gotten good enough to be as fluid as iBooks on the iPad.

And yes, a video review or a regular review comparing the finer points between the two would be so incredibly helpful.

The argument over the the screen is that ipad3 screen is overkill and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between 1920x1200 and 2048x1536 in a 10" device.

And software is debatable :-). I don't think there is much remarkable about iOS ... or Android. I think Win8 has the most interesting software stack, but surface is already behind on the hardware curve and app selection will be low initially. And if you go x86, then you might rather just get a win8 ultrabook.

The Transformer also has connectors though, like hdmi, usb, sd. And a real keyboard dock, (if you can find a use for it). Reply

Er... no. The browser test was faster on the ASUS... not by much. The spider test hits the CPU harder.... and the iPad 2 & 3 were easily faster.

Yes, I and others prefer the 4:3 screen. I tend to use it in portrait mode, like a book... rather than watch videos. Again, if you are INTO videos... and you need a VIDEO player... then you DON'T need a full blown OS to watch videos, play music and browse the web.

Hence, the $1000 over-priced slate-thingy will crash and burn like it has for the past 12 years.Reply

So, I understand that you can only do so much in one review, but come on...

Where are your physical impressions of the device? I understand that the exterior is virtually identical to the Transformer Prime, but still. It'd be nice to even get a "go see the Tranformer Prime review for my detailed impressions on build quality, etc." Where are the battery life figures with the dock? I know it takes a lot of time to test everything, but you waited much longer after all the other review sites to post your iPad 3 and rMBP review. If you don't have a problem waiting on the Apple products, why rush this one out as soon as the NDA lifts?

Sorry if it sounds like I'm whining. I just want the same kind of coverage devoted to Android's new flagship tablet as I saw with the new Macbook Pro or that I saw in the iPad 3 review. Both of those had reviews that were twice as long. Granted, the rMBP (love that acronym you used btw) was a very large upgrade, but the iPad 3 didn't differ appreciably from the iPad 2 in any area other than the screen, similarly to how the Infinity differs from the Prime.

Other than not covering the build quality aspect, though, great review! I really want to see one of these things in action and compare it to my iPad 3 and see how it stacks up. I know the pixel density isn't on par with the iPad, but I'm getting rather tired of the iOS UI on a tablet. I wish I could have some good widgets.Reply

Did ASUS change anything with the way their tablets are assembled and filtered through QC? I went through one Transformer Prime and three Transformer TF300's, and all had horrible backlight bleed issues.Reply

Is it just me that doesn't really see the use in a rear facing camera? Holding up a big tablet (compared to a phone or actual camera) to take a picture is kind of awkward. I just don't really see the need for my tablet or laptop to have a camera other than for skype, etc.Reply

Any word on when the Infinity Pad we're actually waiting for will arrive? I ofc mean the 3G version of this device, sporting Qualcomm's S4 Krait instead of Tegra 3, likely sporting both better performance and much better battery life than what we see here...Reply